Three young people arrested in French-speaking Switzerland for extremism

In the cantons of Vaud and Geneva, police arrested three young people during a joint operation on suspicion of links to extremist and radicalized circles. In Vaud it involved a 15-year-old Russian. You are in custody.

The Russian minor was identified as a result of a police investigation coordinated by the Federal Police Office (Fedpol), Vaud authorities announced on Friday. This mainly concerned exchanges in social networks.

Fedpol had received a tip from abroad, a spokeswoman said at the request of the Keystone-SDA news agency. The Russian was taken into custody under the supervision of the chairman of the children’s court. Criminal proceedings were initiated against him.

Type of extremism unknown

The investigation was entrusted to the security police of the canton of Vaud. They would continue to determine the exact extent of the Russian’s criminal activities and possible links to other cases in Switzerland and abroad, the report said.

In early March, two minors were arrested in Geneva in connection with activities in radical networks. The Geneva authorities did not want to reveal more information.

Law enforcement authorities also declined to specify the type of extremism involved in the activities of the three arrested youths.

Knife attack on Jews

On March 2, a knife attack by a young extremist on an Orthodox Jew in Zurich sparked horrors across the country. The 15-year-old caused the man life-threatening injuries. The victim is now out of danger.

The teen is in custody. The Swiss with a Tunisian background called for a “global struggle against the Jews” in a confessional video in Arabic and expressed their solidarity with the Islamic State (IS) terrorist network. Before the crime, he was not known to federal intelligence or police.

Political and religious circles strongly condemned the act. Security measures for Jewish institutions were tightened. Anti-Semitic incidents have increased in Switzerland since the Islamist Hamas attack in Israel on October 7 and the start of the Gaza war. (sda)